Sweet Sixteen
by Arianna Sunrise
Summary: Rini is sixteen, and is attending her coming of age ball, but when he mother tells her that she must do three tasks, she is sent to Elysian to finish her job. Complete
1. Three Tasks

Surprise Rini Tsukino gazed at the palace and sighed; it was her ball, her honorary sweet sixteen and she didn't have a date. You would figure that a princess would at least have one boyfriend, but no, she hadn't ever had one. She walked inside the ballroom that she had practically lived in as a child and sat in the corner, refusing to feel sorry for herself. The people around her called her a freak, because she had pink hair, they thought that she couldn't possibly be the heir, but someday, she'd show them. Her crown was a plain gold piece, but in the center lay the pink crystal, the only real thing that proved her heritage, but still people didn't believe her. They all thought that she would have her prince by now, like so many of the other princesses of the galaxy, but truth be told, the only reason was her appearance, because she had light pink hair and deep wine colored eyes. People called her spore, and demon child, because she had odangoes that apparently looked like horns, but none of them really knew her. If they knew her, they wouldn't do any of that, and there was more than enough proof that she was her mother's daughter. All one had to do was know that Rini had traveled back in time to see her own birth, just to make sure that she was who she said she was. Even at her party, people would stare and laugh at her, but Rini decided that was going to change tonight. Tonight, she was going to let the silver and golden crystals out of their bond in the pink crystal, and she was going to change her appearance, or at least her hair. She actually liked her eyes; they reminded her of what her great grandmother's looked like in the pictures. Her hair though, it was time for a major change, one that would set her apart from the rumors, because if she had the same hair as her mother, she would be considered the true heir. She stood in her white dress, which was velvet on her chest and satin all the rest of the way down with little diamonds shining on it, and walked to the throne, where she knew her mother would be waiting for her. Carefully, she stepped up on the platform and stood by her mother, who motioned for the music to stop. "Hello everyone, and welcome to my daughter's sweet sixteen. At a normal party, this would be a nice speech about her accomplishments, but a moon princess has other things to do as well. She must first swear to protect her kingdom until the day she dies, second, acknowledge her true powers, and last, choose a prince. Rini will have the next twenty-four hours to do all three deeds, and if she should fail, she will be disinherited." Rini hadn't heard about this, and her eyes widened when she heard the last thing. "What? Mother, I." She was hushed, and the crowd didn't say a word. "Serenity the fourth, do you solemnly swear to protect the Earth, Elysian, the moon, and the entire galaxy from this day forth?" "I do, and I will as Sailor Eclipse." The words came out, but she didn't know from where. "You have twenty-four hours to complete your quest, but I have complete faith in you." Rini looked wide-eyed at her mother. "I cannot find a prince mother, no man will go near me for as long as I live." Her mother smiled sadly and waved her hand, making a portal appear in front of them. "I have a feeling that one will." She saw the temple of Elysian and gasped when she saw Elios praying with light radiating around him. "Go my dear, you have twenty-three hours and forty-nine minutes to claim your power and the man you love." 


	2. A Helping Hand

Rini leapt through the portal and realized that her hair flew out as she went through it. Now, she had pink hair cascading down to her knees, and it was wavy with silver highlights in it and one blue highlight running through it. She had a feeling that the quest was what had caused this change in her appearance. Elios looked up suddenly and gasped. "Maiden, what are you doing here? Should you not be at the palace, and from what I've heard, celebrating your birthday?" He said it affectionately, and she felt her cheeks go warm, but quickly hid her blush. "Yes, but apparently I'm supposed to do some things to fulfill my duties as a moon princess, and this is where I'm supposed to go." He walked over to her and asked her; "What do you have to do here?"  
"I have to recognize my true powers as Sailor Eclipse, and I have never even transformed into that form before." Then, he held out his hand, and there was a silver and blue brooch in it. "King Endymoin told me to keep this, though I didn't I understand why. Now, I'm starting to get a better idea of a few things. How much time do you have?" She glanced at her silver watch. "Twenty hours. Wait, I just got here, and I still had most of my time left!"  
"Time passes differently here maiden, one hour can seem like two minutes." He said softly, and she nodded slowly; that didn't give her much time. Rini took the brooch and stepped away from him. "Eclipse Crisis Power!" She yelled, and was instantly dressed in a blue and silver outfit. Rather than clashing with her hair, it complemented it, which she realized as she glanced in her small pocket mirror. She also noticed that her usual odango style was down, and that her hair was completely blue and silver now, and was woven into two braids on either side with bows attaching the ends to her hair. "What in the world is going on?" Rini asked herself as she de-transformed. "Maiden, you probably don't have much time left." It had been thirty minutes since she last checked her watch. "I have five hours! And I haven't even started the last thing." 


	3. Hurry!

Uh oh, Rini knew that she would have to explain what she meant. "What is your last challenge?" It came slowly, and Rini turned away from him. "Well you see I." She drifted off, and turned, sitting down on the bench near them. "You what?" Elios asked kindly, moving closer to her. "I have to um. I'll paraphrase what my mother said, I have to find my prince." The last part came out in a whisper. "See, the problem is, no guy would ever get near me, they never have, and if I don't do this, I will be disinherited." That was only part of the problem though, the other part was that the only guy for her was sitting right next to her, and he didn't know it. "I see, do you have anyone in mind though?" "Well, there is one person, but he probably doesn't feel the same way." "Oh." Elios winced a little, and Rini began to wonder if he did, in fact, feel the same way she felt about him. "So what's been happening with you?" She asked softly, breaking the silence, even though she realized that she had two hours to find her special someone. "Nothing really, I have just been praying, it has always been the same here, never anything different, until now that is." Rini looked up from the floor. "You're the only person I can talk to anymore; the kids my own age ignore me, and Hotaru and the rest are too busy for me. I guess you're my best friend Elios." She realized the mistake she might have made by saying that when she looked into his eyes. "Nothing more Rini?" She had a half-hour to get back. "Why do you ask? Wait, you've never called me Rini before!" Rini questioned, and Elios scooted closer to her and tilted her chin upward. "I, dear one, just might be the prince you're looking for." He said, and as he closed the distance between them, her eyes fluttered closed. "Yes, I think you're right Elios; I love you, I always have, but what about you?" Hoping with all her heart that he'd say he loved her too, she went down on both her knees and held both his hands in her own. "I have always loved you Rini, I thought you knew that when I kissed you six years ago." She chuckled softly and looked down at her watch. "We have two minutes to get back to the palace!" They both jumped up and ran to the portal, which had remained open for the entire duration of her stay. With one minute left, they arrived in the empty ballroom, and Rini heard her mother outside. "If the princess does not show up in forty-five seconds, your new heir will be my niece, Koroku Tsukino." Rini glanced at Elios, and transformed into Princess Serenity IV using her pink crystal. She then took his hand as he turned into a half Pegasus, and they flew quickly as they began to hear a countdown. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven." She sped out the door, and turned the corner to see the stage. ".Three.Two.One." Then, she let go of Elios' hand and went even faster, reaching the stage just before they finished. "Serenity!" Her mother said, overjoyed, and hugged her. "Mother, I did it." She showed her mother her brooch just as Elios landed at her side and kissed her cheek, causing some people to gasp. "Then accept this as a sign of your heritage and birthright." Her mother pulled a scepter out of some null- space around her and handed it to her daughter. Lights burst out of the tip and surrounded the entire palace. "In two years, you shall marry Elios of Elysian, and become the Queen of the Galaxy." She turned, and Elios was smiling lightly at her. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, just to show everyone that someone loved the princess. Cheers were heard, and some clapping as well when the people realized that the true heir was indeed here. 


End file.
